GIJoe: The Tunnel Rat Syndrome
by Tower of Babel
Summary: Furious that Tunnel Rat has sabotaged his newest batch of BATS, Overkill devises a plan to get his revenge. Meanwhile, TR has his own problems dealing with his fellow Joes. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**_The Tunnel Rat Syndrome Pt.1_**

Overkill was infuriated!

His children, the latest unit of Battle Android Troopers, had been violated, and viciously sabotaged! Their daily refill of motor oil to lubricate their joints had been contaminated with common sand and it turned their once juice of life into poison. Their servos seized up and solidified, and as far as Overkill was concerned they were essentially now junk and useless scrap metal. They were unfixable!

"Tunnel Rat!" He snarled under his artificially simulated breath.

When he found the unit of twelve BATS in their storage pods in a storage bay just outside his laboratories in Cobra's base, after taking an hour out to recharge his battery, he found a note attached to one of the BATS chest plates. It said, "Hugs & Kisses -- Tunnel Rat."

He crumpled the piece of paper in his robotic hand.

Tunnel Rat had done this before. Somehow he had infiltrated Cobra without being detected, masquerading as an officer or trooper.

Overkill knew Cobra's security was lax, but this was outrageous!

Cobra Commander had installed one of the most sophisticated hardwire security systems ever to be conceived -- Overkill knew this because he had designed it -- but Tunnel Rat somehow managed to by-pass all the security lockouts.

"You've gone too far this time, Tunnel Rat," Overkill said, caressing the chest plate of one of his BATS, his children dead from something as simple as tiny grains of sand. "But I'll have the last laugh!"

He went back to his lab and to a control panel. He pressed a button and from a secret compartment in the middle of his lab floor rose a cryostatis chamber. The chamber was the same height and length as an average sized man, but just a little larger to accommodate the occupant inside.

"You may have disabled by Battle Android Troopers with sand, Tunnel Rat, but this new prototype will be impervious to any of your childish antics. The ultimate in wet-wire, liquid-metal technology."

Frost hissed out from the sides of the chamber as the door slid open. Overkill waved away the mist and standing there in the chamber asleep was Odin, his greatest achievement in artificial life. Now the world was about to get a taste of what it meant to play with Mother Nature and have technology spit in her face.

The individual in the chamber was naked and had the appearance of a well-bred, muscular, thirty year old, white male. Overkill was meticulous when it came to detail. He wanted to get the look of Odin perfect, so he could blend into human society without being detected. Underneath a layer of artificial skin lay the exo-skeleton of the most sophisticated BAT he had ever conceived with the latest A.I. motherboard, and his newest innovation: replication software, so Odin could replicate and duplicate any weaponry in his memory bank and seen.

Overkill extended his arms in dramatic fashion. "Odin, awake! Your master commands you." He said.

Odin slowly opened his eyes and looked upon Overkill. "Come, stand before me," Overkill said. Odin stepped out of the chamber and stood before him.

Overkill walked around Odin admiring his creation. He then stopped and faced Odin face-to-face. Odin was 6'1. Overkill had given Odin more height because compared to himself he was not of average height. Overkill was half-human and in his previous life he was only 5'8. "You are my greatest creation and I have big plans for you. But first… I want you to kill this man." Overkill pressed a button on his control console and a picture of Odin's target appeared on an overhead monitor. Odin looked at the man and accepted the order. "He's your main objective. But be discreet. I don't want the Joes to know you exist yet."

"As you command, Overkill," Odin said.

Underneath the red cowl that covered the lower half of his face Overkill produced what could only be construed as a sinister, devilish smile.

-

"Pass the ball, TR!" one of his fellow Joes shouted as several members of G.I.Joe were having a friendly basketball game on a court just behind G.I.Joe headquarters. Tunnel Rat saw his teammate, but he also saw one of the opposite team players coming quickly up behind him. So he faked a pass and dodged and weaved through the other teams defense, tossed the ball up, and scored a two-point basket.

He shouted out, "Yes!" and raised his arms in triumphant, but his fellow teammate whom he faked a pass to didn't share his enthusiasm. "Hey! I just scored. We're winning! Why the disgruntled look, Falcon?"

"You're a ball hog, TR, that's what!" Falcon said to him.

"You had a player on your heels and I wasn't going to waste an opportunity to get ahead in the score just to pass the ball to you."

"Being part of a team is sharing."

"I do share, but I wasn't gonna pass the ball to you just to cater to your idea of team-ship if it wasn't necessary."

"What's going on 'ere?" Beach Head came out from the sidelines. He was watching the game. He had no interest in playing. Fourth in command of the G.I.Joe team he was just as much a hardass on-duty as off and he enjoyed exhibiting his authority. "Let's play ball!"

"That's baseball, Beach Head," Outback said. He was playing too.

Beach Head gave him an annoyed look. He turned his attention back to Falcon and Tunnel Rat. "You two--settle your differences some other time. We're in the middle of a game and this is no time for petty squabbles."

"Hey, I'm not the one who started it," Tunnel Rat said.

"I say again, What's the problem here!" he asked in a demanding tone.

"Nothing sir," Falcon answered. "Just pass the ball, 'kay TR?"

"If you're open I will," Tunnel Rat said.

Then the game resumed.

But it didn't take long for Falcon to burst in annoyance at Tunnel Rat's failure to pass the ball to his teammates. And in the last play, as Tunnel Ray weaved through the other teams defense, he bumped Falcon out of the way so he could get a better shot to make another basket. Falcon had had enough and confronted him on the court once again. "What's the hell is with you, TR? You clearly saw that I was open. I'm your teammate for Christ's sake. Pass the ball!"

"You have two left feet when it comes to this game, Falcon," Tunnel Rat said. "I was raised that you either went with the flow or you died a horrible death, and you're cramping my style. I had a change to score and you were in the way. We've been playing for nearly an hour already and you haven't scored once. The benches are getting cold without you."

"What did you say? Stand at attention when you're speaking to a superior officer, Sgt.!" Falcon spoke to him harshly and in a commanding tone. Tunnel Rat did. "You're benched, Tunnel Rat. Hit the showers."

"But sir…"

"Until you learn to respect your fellow teammates you're banned from paying on this court, is that clear!"

Beach Head watched and listened to everything that was going on, and in his opinion, Falcon was doing exactly what he would do. A small smile crept onto his face behind his mask.

Tunnel Rat sighed irritated. "Fine, sir. I'm outta 'ere!" he said, and walked off the court.

Outback watched Tunnel Rat leave and felt remorse for the lost of one of his teammates. He turned to Falcon. "Falcon, you shouldn't have thrown him out of the game like that, he was our best scorer," he said.

"Tunnel Rat has an attitude problem and until he learns to control it and learns to respect his fellow teammates, he doesn't deserve to play with us," Falcon said. "Now let's get back to the game."

And after a short break, the game resumed.

Tunnel Rat made his way to the men's locker room where he showered, then he got dressed into his uniform and went to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. Lifeline was sitting at a table alone eating soup and a sandwich so he decided to join him. "Hey Lifeline, what're you doing 'ere all alone? You should be out enjoying yourself instead of sitting 'ere."

"I'm taking a break from one of my experiments," he said, "and being alone helps me to think."

"Think 'bout what?" Tunnel Rat asked.

"Life. Death. And everything in between."

"Man, you're a morbid guy to be around."

"I think about things that interest me, I am a field medic after all."

"But the Joes're on stand-by. You should be out enjoying yourself, not stuck 'ere like the rest of us. I'm only 'ere because I was called on to remain as part of the skeleton crew just in case Cobra tries anything. The rest of the Joes're off vacationing with their families." Tunnel Rat took a bite of a sandwich that he got from the café kitchen. "Cobra hasn't made a move in weeks, it's like they've fallen off the edge of the world. Enjoy the peace and quite. It might not last."

"It's not as easy as that, Tunnel Rat. I just can't drop things on a whim whenever we have a breather from Cobra. I have duties to perform, experiments to conduct, and tons of other things to do. I wish I could be more like you, but I'm afraid if I did, I'd compromise my Hippocratic Oath."

"And what's that suppose to mean?"

"Well, the consensus around the base is that you're a jerk."

"I'm a jerk? Who says that?"

"You're a great field operative, but your personality borders on the pretentious. It's what I like to call the Tunnel Rat Syndrome."

"You named a disease after me? I'm touched, sorta."

"It's not a disease, rather a disorder."

"Well, now I'm officially confused."

"Let me explain. Every one has two sides to their personalities. Freud labeled them as the Id and the Ego. The Id is the identity of a person, while the Ego is in what way that identity is presented towards others. How you present yourself to your fellow Joes is the Ego. You come on strong so your Id becomes suppressed." Tunnel Rat still looked confused. "In other words, your Ego is getting in the way of your Id."

"I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but let me see if I got this right. My fellow Joes think I'm a jerk because I'm trying to be myself?"

"Not exactly," Lifeline said. "You're trying not to be yourself."

"Huh?"

"It's difficult to explain without getting into more specifics and into more of Freud's teachings which I took a course in Cambridge, but--"

Tunnel Rat put up his hands. "No, no. Don't try to explain it any further, Lifeline. You're giving me a headache. I'll figure it out." He leaned his chin in his hand. "So people think I'm jerk, eh? Maybe you're right, Lifeline. But it's how I was brought up. Since I was five years old living in New York I was taught by my father that the only person you could depend on is yourself."

"You're part of a team now, you don't have to think that way anymore. No one is asking you to change on a whim, just be more considerate of others and watch what you say and how you say it."

"I'm the kinda guy who likes speakin' his mind," Tunnel Rat said.

"That's fine, but all in moderation, and use tact."

"Tact, eh?" Tunnel Rat nodded. "No promises, but I'll try."

"As a great warrior once said a long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away: 'Do or do not, there is no try.'"

Tunnel Rat let out a snicker. "Watch any good sci-fi movies lately?"

"One or two."

Tunnel Rat took another bite of his sandwich when someone shouted his name, "Yo, Tunnel Rat!" Tunnel Rat turned 180 degrees. It was Chuckles. And he was wearing that god-awful blinding Hawaiian shirt that he always wore. Tunnel Rat didn't have the foggiest reason why the man choose to wear such a terrible shirt. But no one had the heart to tell Chuckles how bad it looked, and with the size of the man, no one even dared.

"Chuckles, over 'ere, dude," Tunnel Rat said. Chuckles came over. "Just eating some grub, care to join us? If that's okay with you, Lifeline?"

"That's alright," he said. "I think I've had enough alone time."

"Is there something I oughta know about you two?" Chuckles said jokingly. Then he quickly dropped it. "General Hawk is looking for you, Tunnel Rat. He sent me to find you. When you weren't at the basketball game on the back court, I thought I oughta look for you here. I knew you'd be here. You eat like a pig and never gain a pound."

"My metabolism's fast and I'm short. As soon as I eat it, it doesn't need alotta time to be broken down. What's the four star hauser want?"

"Don't know," Chuckles said. "He just wants to see you a.s.a.p."

"Oh man, probably heard about the fight I had with Falcon on the court."

"You had a fight with Falcon?" Lifeline asked.

"Yeah, and the consensus is, that he's a jerk too!"

**_-- _**

**_Author's Note: I'll continue it… when I get around to it. But in the meantime, I'm going to it ferment here. I just didn't want to accidentally delete it from my hard drive. It has the potential to be a really good story._**


	2. Chapter 2

**_The Tunnel Rat Syndrome P.2_**

Under orders, though it was more of an request, but with Chuckles, request or not, it was best not to turn down anything the man said - he was the kind of man you did not want to make an enemy of - Tunnel Rat left the cafeteria and followed Chuckles down a corridor and to an elevator. Chuckles pressed the elevator button. The electronic, numerical floor indicator began to count down as the elevator made itself down to them, on the main floor of G.I.Joe HQ.

Chuckles, though his codename was an oxymoron, due to the fact that he hardly smiled, and was more serious than any Joe Tunnel Rat had ever worked with, was a muscular man and liked to work out in the gym. He wasn't a heavy man, but he was in tremendous shape. He liked to visit the gym three times more than Tunnel Rat did, and yet, despite Tunnel Rat's diminutive stature, they were roughly the same body type.

When the elevator arrived, the doors opened and they got in, and made their way to the top floor of the building. Neither one of them said a word to each other. Chuckles then lead Tunnel Rat down a carpeted hallway to General Hawk's office. On the door was a metal plaque with the name General Abernathy, though everyone called him Hawk, his self-appointed codename, from time past, when he lead the G.I.Joe team, when it only had six members. Chuckles knocked on the General's door.

"Come in," General Hawk said.

Chuckles opened the door, and said, "Tunnel Rat here to see you, General, as requested."

"Thank you, Chuckles," the General said, and Chuckles said, "Anytime, General," in a informal manner, and then left, after Tunnel Rat had entered the office, closing the door behind him.

Tunnel Rat stood next to the door. Hawk was beyond legendary with enough metals to fill the entire room. But unlike other Generals Tunnel Rat knew, Hawk was a modest man and didn't like to flaunt his prowess. Instead of military citations, he'd rather display his bowling trophies, and saw one on a file cabinet adjacent to his desk.

General Hawk hadn't said a word to him since he entered his office which made Tunnel Rat nervous, not even raising his head as he filled out some paper work. He had probably heard about the incident with Falcon on the basketball court and asked Chuckles to bring him here to discuss it.

Eventually the General acknowledged him, looked up, gave him a thin smile, and said, "Sorry, TR, I was finishing off some paper work." He extended a hand, hinting to a chair in front of his desk. "Please, sit down."

Tunnel Rat swallowed nervously, sat down in a dark brown leather chair - Tunnel Rat noticed it was very comfortable - and said, "Sir, I can explain everything," he said.

"Explain what?"

"The fight between me and Falcon on the basketball court."

"And what fight is this then?"

"You mean you didn't send Chuckles to bring me up here to talk to you about it?"

General Hawk rested his chin on folded hands, his elbows on his desk, and looked at him, as if suddenly interested. Tunnel Rat quickly realized that he shouldn't have said anything. "Tell me about it." And Tunnel Rat explained. The General nodded in an understanding manner. "What differences you and Falcon have on the court is between you two, but I suggest you straight it out."

"Yes, General Hawk," Tunnel Rat said.

"But that's not what I called you here for," he said. "I called you here because I want you to escort a member of the Department of Home Land Security around the base, Mr. Wallace Dent. He here's by order of the President to inspect our facilities for security leaks. Though I think his presence here is pretentious, I have to comply with the order."

"Security leak, sir? But G.I.Joe headquarters is the most secured facility on the planet."

"I know, but the President ordered it, so I have to comply."

"With all due respect, General, I'm not a tour guide."

"I know that, but since you know the base in and out better than anyone, I recommend you for the job."

"Wonderful, sir," he said, obviously not pleased, and Hawk smirked. "When does this guy get 'ere?" Tunnel Rat then asked.

"He's waiting for you in the lounge down the hall," Hawk said.

Tunnel Rat stood on his feet. "I'm not a tour guide, sir, but I'll do my best."

"I know you will, dismissed," Hawk said. Tunnel Rat turned to leave, but then Hawk said, "By the way, I just finished reading your report on your recon into Cobra's South American headquarters. Good work. With all the Intel gathered I believe we can mount an attack on the base very soon."

"That's great sir, count me in!"

"And nice work with the BATS. Sand in their motor oil, nice touch."

Tunnel Rat smiled. "Thank you, sir."

Hawk picked up a Styrofoam cup that was sitting on his desk and opened the lid, it was filled with sand. "My little nephew brought me back a cup of sand from the Bahamas last week as a present, when he and my step-brother and his wife were on vacation. Sand is a very interesting substance. Not many people know it, but sand is the hardest carbon solid known to exist in its natural state. No other azoic can make such a claim."

"I didn't know that. I just thought sand was sand."

"Most people don't give it a second thought, but without it, our civilization wouldn't be the advanced technological society it is today," Hawk said. "Our whole world is dependant on this finely divided rock mineral."

Tunnel Rat nodded, knowing why. "Computer chips are made from tiny granites of sand," he said. "And we're a computer dependant society."

"Correct." Hawk then smiled thin and said, "Mr. Dent is waiting."

"Yes sir," Tunnel Rat said, and saluted. Then he left Hawk's office.

Tunnel Rat met the man from the Department of Home Land Security in the lounge. He was sitting patiently on one of the couches provided, dressed in a dark navy business suit, and as soon as Tunnel Rat arrived he got to his feet. He extended his hand towards Tunnel Rat and they shook hands. "I'm Wallace Dent from the Department of Home Land Security," the man said. "I'm here to investigate possible security leaks inside G.I.Joe headquarters. Hopefully, I won't find any."

"Hello sir, you can call me Tunnel Rat," he said.

Dent seemed amused by his code name. He said, "I know every member of G.I.Joe are assigned codenames, buy why is yours Tunnel Rat?"

"Because I can get into very small places and tunnel through like a rat," he said. "I really didn't have a choice in the matter, General Hawk assigns the codenames and that is what he gave me."

"Interesting," Dent said. "Are all codenames chosen on the bases of an individual's skill and abilities?"

"Not always. Some are secular in nature, which means they offer more of a spiritual connection, while others are more simple. Some are even paradoxal, which defy explanation. But only General Hawk knows the reason why he chose each codename." Tunnel Rat said.

"Your accent tells me you're from New York, but you're not a native to this country," Dent said. "If I would have to guess, Eastern descent?"

"Brooklyn, actually. And I was born in Trinidad. I moved to America when I was six years old."

"Ah yes." He almost looked thrilled to learn that little interesting tidbit of information. "Forgive me, but I'm an inquisitive man. I like to know something about a person I'm dealing with. It helps me become more involved with whatever engagement I'm participating in. Shall we begin the tour?"

"Yes sir," Tunnel Rat said. He extended a hand outward, and said, "This way, sir."

It took three hours to fully show Dent everything. After the tour was finished, Tunnel Rat brought him back to the lounge. "So, that's it, sir," Tunnel Rat said. "The whole base in a nutshell."

"Very good. G.I.Joe headquarters is certainly a very secured facility. I noticed you didn't take me inside some of the more secured areas. Why didn't we visit them? I had full consent to see everything." Dent said.

"Sorry sir, but those areas are off-limits to anyone other than G.I.Joe personnel," Tunnel Rat said.

"I was ordered by the President of the United States to conduct a thorough investigation of your command centre and that means all areas. You wouldn't want to disobey a direct order from your commander-in-chief, would you?"

"You'll hafta take it up with General Hawk, sir. I'm under orders not to reveal what's in those sensitive areas. I was told to give you a tour of our base determining its security status. I believe I've done that."

"You're being awfully evasive," he said.

"I'm not trying to be, sir, I'm only following orders from my superior officer, General Hawk. Now, if you're satisfied with our security, I'll take you to General Hawk so you can file your report."

"I'm not going to file a report."

Tunnel Rat eyed him confused. "Excuse me, sir?" he said.

"With the intelligence I've gathered, Cobra will have no problem attacking G.I.Joe headquarters!"

Tunnel Rat gasped with shock and awe, and suddenly, Dent grabbed his throat and started to squeeze. Dent then lifted him to his eye level, which for Tunnel Rat meant lifting him a foot and a half off the ground.

Tunnel Rat grabbed Dent's arm and struggled to free himself from his steel-like grip, but to no avail. He then reached for the man's face and scratched his cheek, but where there should have been blood from the claw marks, silver ooze came out. "You're not human!" he said.

It was then that Tunnel Rat heard a familiar voice coming from a two-way voice box inside whatever Wallace Dent was. "Greetings, Tunnel Rat, I trust you know who this is. It's Overkill, and I'm here to deliver a little message." Tunnel Rat beat on Dent's arm with a fist, but with every hit he hurt his hand. It was like the man's bone's were made of steel. "I owe you a very unpleasant death for what you did to my BATS."

Tunnel Rat snorted, and started to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" Overkill demanded an answer.

When he didn't get a fast enough answer, Dent tighten his grip.

Tunnel Rat used both hands to try to loose Dent's grip, but with no success. "You won't be in a humorous mood after I get through with you," Overkill said. "Allow me to introduce you to Odin, my newest BAT prototype. He's programmed with an adaptive personality and is the latest in A.I. technology, has a completely wet-wired brain, and is made of a liquid-metal."

"Rip-off," Tunnel Rat managed to breath out.

There a slight pause. "True. I may have borrowed the idea from a movie, but the principle is sound. And Odin can harmonize into anything he chooses. I replaced the real representative from the Department of Home Land Security just before he arrived at G.I.Joe headquarters with Odin. He now knows everything there is to know about your command centre. With that knowledge, Cobra will have a strategic advantage. He's been transmitting the data the entire time on the tour." Overkill chuckled. "The tour was generally boring, but it was informative, despite you avoided the vital areas I wanted to see. Looks like your base security isn't as secure as you thought if Odin was able to infiltrate your headquarters with this much ease. I wasn't planning to launch Odin to strike against G.I.Joe this early, but since he's here, why not put him to the ultimate test. After he kills you, I'll have him destroy your headquarters."

"You forgot one thing, Killjoy," Tunnel Rat said in a scratchy voice, both hands gripped around Odin's arm.

"The name is Overkill, not Killjoy. And what is that?"

"You're little toy hasn't killed me yet," Tunnel Rat said, and wrapped his legs around Odin's arm and twisted his body left. The shift in weight forced Odin off-kilter and it loosen his grip enough that Tunnel Rat was able to break free. He rubbed his throat and backed off, but Odin advanced on him, his hands out-stretched, as if he was the Frankenstein Monster.

"You're only delaying the enviable, Tunnel Rat," Overkill said.

Tunnel Rat pulled out his laser gun from a side holster and fired upon Odin, but his body absorbed the laser blasts, ingesting them like food.

He was stunned by Odin's ability, but continued to fire, but with the same effect. His entire body turned into a solid silver liquid as he continued to absorb the laser blasts. Finally, Tunnel Rat stopped, and Odin returned to normal.

He thought quickly and devised a plan. He ran at Odin and suddenly slid between his legs and did a leg sweep, knocking Odin down. But it had no effect. Odin got right back up without fail.

Tunnel Rat backed off from him and ran down the hall to General Hawk's office. He knocked first, but when there was no answer, he let himself in. He locked the door behind him. But Odin punched through the wall with a fist, looked inside.

Tunnel Rat gripped his laser and fired at Odin, but it didn't stop him.

It was then that Odin did something both totally freakish but cool at the same time, he altered his body and like a snake would fall out of a drain pipe, he turned into liquid metal and dropped to the floor in General Hawk's office. Odin then reformed back to normal.

"Hasn't your little toy ever heard of using a door?" Tunnel Rat said dryly, escaping behind General Hawk's desk. Odin went after him and smashed the desk in half with a single hand, breaking it in two.

Tunnel Rat grabbed Hawk's bowling trophy off the file cabinet and swung it through the air like a weapon striking Odin in the head, but his liquid metal form stopped it half way through his skull, and then absorbed it into his body. Hawk wasn't going to like that.

"Impressive, isn't he?" Overkill said. "Soon all my BATS will be equipped with his abilities and Cobra will have a whole army of them! They will be unstoppable!" Overkill laughed sinisterly.

"Not if I can help it!" Tunnel Rat vowed, and let out another barrage of laser fire upon Odin, blasting his body with holes. And he continued to fire until the laser clip went dry. Odin looked like Swiss cheese in the aftermath, then started to reform.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tunnel Rat saw the cup of sand that Hawk had on his desk now laying on the floor in front of him, and he smirked, suddenly devising a possible way to defeat Odin. He grabbed it and threw it at Odin as he was trying to reform, splashing him all over. The liquid metal BAT tried to absorb it, but had difficult.

Odin started to jerk frantically, and his liquid transformation ability stalled. Odin then collapsed to the floor like a broken toy.

"Wh-what happened!" Overkill said, in a state of shock. "Odin! Odin!"

Tunnel Rat stood over the broken BAT, its horrified, disproportionate body a sickening sight. "Sorry Overkill, looks like you need to go back to the drawing board," he said. "Your little toy had one major flaw in its matrix. Like diamonds, sand is one of the hardest substances known to man, and whenever mixed with a liquid element, it can't be absorbed. Therefore, it broke down, like a car with sand in its gas tank."

Overkill growled infuriated, and Tunnel Rat chuckled, and smashed Odin's head with his foot, disconnecting the communication.

Suddenly General Hawk opened the door to his office and stood momentarily awestruck by what he saw in his office laying on the floor. He looked to Tunnel Rat for an explanation. "A little present from Overkill, General," Tunnel Rat said. General Hawk looked at him confused, and Tunnel Rat explained.

"A new weapon, huh?" General Hawk said. "A new type of Battle Android Trooper."

Tunnel Rat nodded, and said, "But I doubt very highly Overkill will attempt to rebuild it."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because even a child can stop it now."

And he explained.

Sand.

--

Later that week, Tunnel Rat joined some of his fellow Joes out on the basketball court, and Falcon was there.

"And what do you want, TR?" Falcon said rudely, holding the ball, stopping a game already in progress.

"To apologize," he said. "I was a jerk our last game."

Falcon looked taken back by his sudden admission. "Well, yeah, you were, but so was I," he said admittedly. "I shouldn't have pulled rank on you and ejected you from the game. Wanna play?"

"You bet," Tunnel Rat said, and joined Falcon's team.

And he still scored more baskets than anyone on the team.

--

A Cobra trooper walked down an empty, metallic corridor, and knocked on a laboratory door. The door opened and Overkill stood on the other end.

"This package came from you this morning, sir," the Cobra Trooper said.

Overkill snatched it from the Cobra Trooper and then stormed back into his laboratory, closing the door.

He slammed it onto a metal table and went back to a set of schematics he had displayed on a large monitor on the wall over a computer console.

"Why did I overlook such a rudimentary flaw in Odin's design," he said. "How could I be so stupid? Odin was my greatest creation, but now he's useless, the whole design is futile!"

He growled and slammed his hands into the computer console, breaking it. His human emotions getting the better of his mechanical body. The schematics zipped off the screen as it went blank.

He went back to the metal table and picked up the package marked URGENT. "It must be components I ordered to outfit my BATS," he said, and ripped it open.

But when he opened the package, all there was was sand, and a small card that said: "Hugs & Kisses -- TR."

And Overkill shouted with fury.

_**END**_


End file.
